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Past Participles of Regular Verbs

FoundationHigherAQA

Practise Past Participles of Regular Verbs for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Foundation and Higher exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). Regular -er verbs form the past participle by replacing -er with -é.

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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

Foundation

WorksheetFoundation · PDFMark SchemeFoundation · PDF

Higher

WorksheetHigher · PDFMark SchemeHigher · PDF

Topic overview

The past participle of a regular verb is formed from the infinitive by changing its ending, and each verb group has its own pattern.

For -er verbs, remove -er and add -é: parler becomes parlé, manger becomes mangé. For -ir verbs, remove -ir and add -i: finir becomes fini, choisir becomes choisi. For -re verbs, remove -re and add -u: vendre becomes vendu, attendre becomes attendu.

The -er participle is the one that causes spelling errors, because parlé, parler and parlez all sound identical. The participle takes the acute accent on the e; the infinitive ends in -er with no accent. Getting this wrong is a spelling error that appears in almost every written task.

Revision notes

The three patterns

-er verbs: remove -er, add -é. Parler becomes parlé.

-ir verbs: remove -ir, add -i. Finir becomes fini. -re verbs: remove -re, add -u. Vendre becomes vendu.

The -é spelling trap

Parlé, parler and parlez are pronounced identically.

The participle takes an acute accent: j'ai parlé. The infinitive has no accent: je veux parler. Choosing between them is decided by grammar, not sound.

Deciding which to write

After avoir or être, write the participle with -é.

After another verb such as vouloir, or after a preposition, write the infinitive with -er. J'ai mangé but je veux manger.

Key points

  • -er verbs form the participle with -é.
  • -ir verbs form it with -i.
  • -re verbs form it with -u.
  • Parlé, parler and parlez sound identical.
  • The participle takes an acute accent.
  • The infinitive has no accent.

Worked examples

Example 1

Give the past participle of finir. [2 marks]

Working

finiremove -ir from the infinitive
Add -i to form the past participle of a regular -ir verbexplain the pattern

Example 2

Give the past participle of vendre. [2 marks]

Working

venduremove -re from the infinitive
Add -u to form the past participle of a regular -re verbexplain the pattern

Example 3

Explain how to decide between j'ai mangé and je veux manger. [2 marks]

Working

After avoir or être, the past participle with -é is usedstate the participle rule
After another verb such as vouloir, the infinitive with -er is usedstate the infinitive rule

Common mistakes

  • Writing -er instead of -é after avoir.

    J'ai parler is wrong; it is j'ai parlé.

  • Omitting the accent on the participle.

    It must be é, not e.

  • Adding -é to an -ir or -re verb.

    They take -i and -u respectively.

  • Choosing by sound.

    The three forms sound alike; grammar decides.

Exam tips

  • Learn the three participle endings as a set.
  • Write é after avoir or être.
  • Write -er after another verb or a preposition.
  • Never choose between them by ear.

Key terms

Past participle
The verb form used after avoir or être.
Acute accent
The mark on é in a past participle.
Infinitive
The base form ending in -er, -ir or -re.
Verb group
The -er, -ir or -re family a verb belongs to.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.